Steve Walker Art

I'm a big fan of Steve Walker's art (as I've mentioned elsewhere). Besides being gay-oriented, it has a certainly quality of stillness, of contemplation, of quiet beauty which appeals to me. Of course, the men in it are hot, but beyond that, Walker conveys a deep humanity in them, both alone and in pairs. he's not afraid to depict such moods as sadness and loneliness, as well as friendship, joy, and love. He brings to mind such American artists as Edward Hopper:

and Andrew Wyeth:

There's a quality of light in these works that recalls Vermeer:

Hopper once said that he only wanted to "paint light on a wall." Of course, he did more than that, but he points to the importance of light in paintings such as these: it is almost another character in the "story"of the work. It creates a mood and a space that the human characters inhabit and seems to define us as singular and alone, while still being a part of a greater whole. Sometimes this "whole" is another human being, or the world around us, or, even, a small cat. There is a shining and quiet beauty here, a vision which transcends the ordinary, which is Zen-like in its intensity. I suppose this is the spiritual quality they convey: we are alone, but alone together, and thus one.